A high wind warning covers Atka and Adak with gusts up to 80 mph

Wind gusts of up to 80 mph are bearing down on Atka and Adak today, and the National Weather Service in Anchorage is warning residents of both communities to brace for widespread power outages and difficult travel.

Out on the water it is worse. A storm warning covers the seas around Adak through tonight, with west wind to 55 knots and seas of 15 to 21 feet building to 22 to 33 feet.

The High Wind Warning runs from 7 am to 10 pm Thursday Anchorage time, with west winds of 45 to 65 mph. Atka and Adak are an hour behind, so there it is 6 am to 9 pm. The strongest winds are expected between noon and 3 pm, 11 am to 2 pm local, and forecasters say east-west channels could produce locally higher gusts.

"Prepare for the possibility of widespread power outages," the warning said, urging people to secure loose objects and drive with caution. TDX Adak Generating takes outage calls at 907-592-2499.

Today's wind comes from a deep low in the southern Bering Sea, which NWS Anchorage tracked at 964 millibars, 200 nautical miles northeast of Shemya. The lower the reading, the deeper the low.

Adak is home to 247 people and Atka to 70, as counted in 2013.

An Aleutians East Borough hazard plan records hurricane-force gusts to 75 mph at Adak during a central Aleutians storm on March 1, 2010, below today's forecast.

The zone forecast for Atka and Adak is headlined strong wind through Friday night, so the hazard outlasts the warning: gusts to 75 mph tonight, then 55 easing to 45 on Friday.